The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-04-08


chances to one that it is one Of the two.
And it is an almost invariabIe rule for
the lower class Greeks in the Levant to
give their sons such honored names as
Miltiades, Socrates. Plato. Aristotle,
Pericles, Agesilaos, Themistocles, and
the like in baptism. l remember how
odd it sounded to me when, in my
lodging at Constantinople, I had to
bawl for Socrates over the banisters,
the said Socrates being Il villainOus-
looking old man-Of-all-work, with a
/ squint in his eye and a hump on his
back.
| Of course, all Greek servants cheat,
/ lie and steal, for if there ever had been
one who didn't do these things his
name would have been preserved. No
body in the Orient expects any thing
| else of a Greek servant, and the point
/ is not to give him more chances to III
/ dulge these little foibles than one has
to or can afford. As wages of servants
] all over the East are excessively low,
/ and their earnings consist for the most
/ part in perquisites of all kinds, legiti-
mate and otherwise, every master of
! household expects to be defrauded and
hoodwinked by his servants. The
question turns only on the amount, and
those servants places where a good
/ deal of money may be pOcketed on the
\ sly with little fear of detection are
always eagerly sought after. Brides
form, of course, a very large percentage
of these dishonest gains; but bribery is
/ considered perfectly reputable for both
/ parties to the transaction, and brides do
not, therefore, figure in this enumera-
| ton of the oriental servants shortcOm-
/ ings. A certain amount of actual pur
| Joining and embeZzling is. however,
also deemed permissible by the Turkish
master, if the servant has not been
otherwise derelict. Thus, in making
purchases he may always deduct an en-
| forced commission when rendering his
! account, and always does. The same
when he receives money from his EN-
ployer
While all this is true of the Greek
and in a less degree of the Armenian
servant in Turkish pay, it is not true
of the Turk when wearing the yoke of
domestic servitudc But real Turks
seldom deign to accept such chains,
not even the poorest They prefer to
leave the shame and the emoluments of
| serfdOm alike to men and women of
other races than theirs. The conditions
of domestic service in the East Indies
have become pretty well known
through the writings of English novel
lists and travellers, and they form,
indeed, such a complex and difficult
| question in themselves as to by far
transcend the limits of this article
But domestic service in Persia is a field
hitherto unexplored by writer's, and
some details about that may not prove
embarrassing to sufferers from that
universal evil-a bad servant.
/ The Persian word for servant is
"ncwker," meaning man ready to do
your bidding. A servant Is engaged
for year, at the end of which time his
contract may be renewed or not, at the
masters pleasure. They receive very
small wages (but much higher than
are customary in India). Under wages
(muvadjib) is understood not only the
pay in money, but also clothes and a
certain amount of food and shelter.
One new suit of clothes is given every
year, and, in the way of ratiOns, a
little rice, some bread and tobacco are
dealt out by the head servant or stew
ard every day, or week, as the case
may be. Service is such steady en-
plOyment in Persia that when a Persian
has obtained a good MASTER. e., a
pretty liberal One-he marries, know
ing that he can comfortably support
his family on his combined wages and
pilferings. For he is as unconscious
BILE liar and thief as the Greek. Cases
are not ut all rare of servant
keeping two or three wives out Of what
he can fitch and squeeze out of the
household. Thus the cook at the
American legation ut Teheran, Ali
AzOffor, kept three wives and about a
dozen children. and the young valet
of the minister's sOn7fcd the wives OF
his bosom not alone. but also an aged
parent and lonely sister out of the
proceeds of his daily spoils. The thiev-
ish commission the Persian servant eN-
, acts is know as 'mudakhil," and the
size is limited by the servants greed and
his victims purse. Such ''mudakhil'
, is levied on every thing which is bought
for or by the master. from a house OF
, horse to a mOsquito-net. Even the
: best and most trusted Persian servant
, takes it, and it is, Indeed, considered
T in the light of one of the best estab
, lished and most honorcd institution.
I of the country. No one can escape tn,
'mudakhil, not even the all-powerfu
I Shah. His servants rob and plumber
| him inst rs DerSiStpntlv nc do those a.
! the European residents or travellers
, their employers, But there is a fine
, distinction. A ''mudakhir' of ten PEI
q cent. on the purchase price is very
= straight forward, honorable and fair
I one of twenty per cent is permissible
q but one of forty or fifty per cent. i
theft and brands the servant as dis
: honest. Such a one loses caste and coulC
only be excused by his countrymen j
- his victim be Il newly arrived 'feren
q CHI, a European or American of green
o horn propensities. But even in tina
: case it would be held to be stretchin,
: the bow little too far. As long as n
. keeps within the bounds Just men
toned the Persian servant may chea
: and swindle his master every minute i
y he can. and he may proudly raise hi
head and call himself an honest man il
. Persia. The natives understand thi
e fine principle so well that even if tn
q master should, in exceptional cases
! take the trouble TO purchase the good
h IN question himself the dealer vii
# always in the purchase price includ
: the ''mudakhil' for the servant, to h